Maxwell: Florida bro-flakes. They're angry, loud, entitled and convinced they're victims

Florida is home to a number of invasive species, including lionfish and Burmese pythons. But few creatures seem to be proliferating in more annoying fashion these days than the Florida bro-flake.

You may not be familiar with the term, but you definitely know the type - guys, mostly White, who are loud, entitled and aggressive, yet who also get infuriated when anyone challenges them.

Bro-flakes are convinced they're victims. So they get enraged when anyone offers facts that contradict their narrative of self-pity. They want history books censored and all talk of racial disparity silenced - unless it's their talk about how White guys have it rougher than anyone else.

They're angry snowflakes … so bro-flakes.

The native habitat for bro-flakes used to be places like Twitter/X where these folks would think they were being insightful by posting quips like: "Well, why isn't there a WHITE History Month?" (Questions for which they could find answers if they spent five seconds on Google.)

But in recent years, the bro-flakes have taken over Florida's political ecosphere. We've seen a steady march as the governor and Republican-led Legislature have attempted to whitewash history books and censor workplace discussions that might challenge the bro-flakes' fragile sensibilities.

DeSantis recently gave voice to the key plank in the bro-flake platform when he argued that White males - who control more levers of power in this country than any other demographic group - are the most put-upon, "disfavored "group in America.

"No, it's not fine," the governor said while signing a law targeting diversity and inclusion initiatives. "It's wrong."

That law, by the way, didn't just seek to kill governmental efforts to ensure that minorities are treated fairly. The new law is also intended to help remove locally elected officials from office if they disagree with the governor and continue supporting inclusion initiatives. Again, the bro-flakes do not like dissent.

DeSantis signs Florida law banning local DEI funding, says white men are ‘disfavored'

Bro-flakery is also a key value espoused by DeSantis' appointed attorney general, James Uthmeier, who has gone after everyone from Starbucks to the NFL for supposedly not giving White guys enough jobs.

In Uthmeier's mind, the world is unfairly denying White men careers as head coaches and coffeehouse baristas. His calling as the state’s top prosecutor is to defend them.

Maxwell: First Starbucks, now the NFL is targeted in Florida’s DEI crusade

And now there's a GOP candidate for governor, James Fishback, who's attracting a growing following among young, White college students who swoon over Fishback's claims that minorities - and Jewish people, in particular - are threatening their way of life.

"Before you can be America First, you must be Christ First," Fishback said last week, a few days after saying: "I believe this is a Christian nation. If you want to call me a Christian nationalist, I guess guilty as charged."

In saner times, a guy like Fishback wouldn't get the time of day. (Last week, he actually took on a tweet from … wait for it … Sesame Street that promoted Jewish American Heritage Month, saying: “There is no room in this country for hyphenated Americanism.")

But thanks in part to the grievance groundwork DeSantis has sowed - as well as the advisory assistance one of DeSantis' top aides gave Fishback in the early stages of his campaign - the 31-year-old's divisive message is starting to earn him national attention. Fishback has said he wants to continue the job DeSantis started, saying: "The most pure form of racism that is most endemic today is racism against White Americans."

So that's where we find ourselves in Florida nowadays … in bro-flake country.

Theoretically, I should be these guys' target audience. I'm White. I'm male. I'm Christian.

Unlike these guys, though, I believe in facts and history. I think hard truths should be told and that varied perspectives should be heard.

I also don't believe that every single desire I've ever been denied in life should be blamed on ethnic or religious minorities. I believe in personal responsibility. And that my perspective and life experiences aren't the only ones that have value.

And I sure don’t believe Jesus preached a gospel of ugly division.

There can, of course, be earnest debates about diversity initiatives. There have been instances where efforts to promote inclusion actually led to exclusion and where initiatives meant to address generations of disparity led to more inequality or simply missed the mark.

But the bro-flakes aren't interested in earnest debates. And they definitely don't want you to hear the full story. That's why Uthmeier has also sought to dismantle government programs and offices that merely collect data that might show whether minorities are being unfairly shut out of things like government contracts. Facts that undermine their narratives will not be tolerated.

Maxwell: Florida's attorney general chooses which laws to enforce … when it comes to minorities

I doubt Fishback's campaign will fully catch fire. Right now, he’s polling as an also-ran alongside DeSantis’ lieutenant governor. There are questions about whether he’s even legally eligible to run. And Team DeSantis seems to have backed away from Fishback after the governor's spokeswoman was exposed for having advised him early on. And after a number of the governor's Jewish supporters expressed outrage over his antisemitic remarks.

But really, what did any of these folks expect? Guys like DeSantis, Uthmeier and Randy Fine have been demonizing minorities for years now, starting with LGBTQ citizens and Muslims. Was it really not a problem until Jewish values were also targeted? Did they really think the division and other-ing would stop before it reached their doorstep?

That's not how the bro-flakes work. And it would be refreshing if the people who’ve previously indulged and seeded this division stopped doing so. It would also, sadly, be a surprise.

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This story was originally published May 6, 2026 at 2:09 PM.